Houston High School’s tennis team got its first win of the 2023 season in a home match on Tuesday, downing county rival Licking 8-1.
The Tigers lost only 1 game in the top three singles matches, as sophomore Connor McKinney won the No. 1 match 8-0, junior Kolten Gayer won 8-0 in the No. 2 match and freshman Maggie Wolfe prevailed 8-1 in the No. 3 match.
A pair of HHS freshmen posted come-from-behind victories in fourth and fifth singles, as Halie Hamilton started slow and was down 4-1 before rallying back to win the No. 4 match 8-4.
“She showed some real grit and focus,” said head coach Josh McKinney.
In No. 5 singles, Riley Wilson overcame a huge 5-2 deficit to win 8-6.
“She showed some real determination and guts,” coach McKinney said.
Then in sixth singles, freshman Allie Campbell played a good match and won 8-3.
“I was really proud of our No. 4, 5 and 6 players tonight,” coach McKinney said, “as they showed the ability to not get down on themselves and stick with a plan to come back and win these matches.”
The Tigers lost their regular No. 2 singles player and half of their No. 2 doubles duo – junior Waylon Collins – to a knee injury. He’s expected to miss the remainder of the season.
“He was missing in our lineup,” coach Josh McKinney, “but I was proud how the team stepped up and played well.”
With Collins sidelined, coach McKinney had to mix-and-match and change the team’s doubles game plan and lineups.
Things worked out well, as Connor McKinney and Wolfe played well together and won the No. 1 match, 8-1, while Gayer and Hamilton gelled nicely and posted an 8-0 shutout. Houston’s only loss came in No. 3 doubles, as Wilson and Campbell played hard but fell 8-5.
